Growth Obvious as Midsouth Delegates Gather

CARROLLTON, TX (April 28, 2004) - A pastor's field trip and the celebration of growth at various churches were among the highlights at the Midsouth Conference annual meeting at Redeemer Covenant Church last Friday and Saturday.

Under the theme "Into His Harvest" taken from Matthew 9:35-38, the focus of the conference's annual meeting was on the fact that this was a season of harvest in the Midsouth, stated Supt. Garth Bolinder. This fact seems most evident from the rapid growth among congregations throughout the Midsouth Conference, which is part of the Evangelical Covenant Church. In 2000, aggregate attendance in the conference was 5,389. In 2003, the aggregate attendance was 13,480 among 17 congregations from Texas and Oklahoma.

A total of 47 delegates from 16 churches approved a budget of $351,203 for 2005 and welcomed two new churches: Grace Covenant Church in Oklahoma City, under pastor Lance Gutteridge, and Journey Covenant Church in Norman, Oklahoma, under Clark Mitchell. The latter congregation has taken off since being founded nearly three years ago, with 2,700 in average attendance.

"I am humbled and thrilled at the same time for what God is doing in the Midsouth Conference," said Bolinder. "All of our churches have evidence of new life stirring in them. I am grateful to work with the quality of gifted pastors we have in our conference."

Along with celebrating a fruitful ministry harvest, Bolinder hoped the time in the Dallas area would also help its respective pastors grow in partnership together. A Friday field trip, some powerful testimonies at a Friday night worship service and powerful preaching on Friday night and Saturday morning seemed to do just that.

Bolinder said that Friday's pastoral gathering included a presentation on biblical unity from Covenant pastor Dr. Willie Peterson. The group then traveled to Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship, where pastor Tony Evans gave the contingent a tour of his African American church and told about the ministries of racial reconciliation occurring in his area.

Later, Bolinder and company then went to the Urban Evangelical Mission (UEM), whose president is Terry Woodson, a Covenant pastor for Bethel Bible Fellowship in Carrollton. UEM's work has been significant in helping minister to an underserved neighborhood and Bolinder said he was deeply moved by the impact of the ministry. UEM has, in a sense, taken over the neighborhood for Christ, Bolinder noted. It has bought a house that functions as a learning lab, it runs a senior citizens retirement home on the block and recently purchased an apartment for helping provide safe and affordable housing.

"We got to travel for a little adventure in the afternoon and that helped strengthen our camaraderie as pastors," said Bolinder. "We had all of our pastors represented and to get everyone together brought some wonderful friendship. This trip helped facilitate that. It's wonderful - we did something like this two years ago in South Texas and we hope we can do something like this every year."

Pastors, delegates and friends met on Friday evening for dinner and worship at Redeemer Covenant. A combined gospel choir from Bethel Bible Fellowship and Redeemer assisted in worship. Ruth Hill, executive minister of Covenant Women Ministries, gave her testimony of mission work and recent efforts for the denomination. Pastor Noel Cisneros of The People's Church in San Juan, Texas, who had been in Iraq until a few weeks ago as a military chaplain, then shared his experiences. He was given a standing ovation, both for his words and his faithfulness under such trying circumstances.

Ikki Soma, a church planter in San Antonio, shared his childhood experiences of growing up in a Shinto/Buddhist background and coming to know Jesus Christ in high school. Soma and his wife, Tara, hope his congregation can be "a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, disciple-making Covenant church" in San Antonio. Nick Harris, who has served as pulpit supply pastor at Cornerstone Covenant Church in Midwest City, Oklahoma, and has been a longtime pastoral mentor to many Covenant pastors in Oklahoma City, then gave a stirring evening message.

Terry Woodson preached at a Saturday morning worship service as participants shared communion. During the business meeting, delegates elected Neil Brown of Bethel Bible Fellowship and Megan DeWald of Faith Covenant Church in Houston, Texas, as camp board representatives in the conference. Nancy Dieckow, the camp board president, reported that a June one-week camp in Crockett, Texas, has been well supported by volunteers from the Midsouth and that its director, Dale Lusk, will make available more training for high school students than ever before.

To learn more about the Midsouth Conference and its annual meeting, call Bolinder at 918-481-9097 or visit the conference web site at www.covchurch.org under the Conferences link.

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